Colangelo had spies in the dressing room?

There is a watchful stillness to Ujiri. Unlike Colangelo, he’s listening when people talk, rather than waiting his turn.

The major shift comes on the bench, where most of coach Dwane Casey’s assistants — many widely perceived as Colangelo’s men rather than Casey’s — have been replaced.

“I told him when I arrived, ‘Coach, there’s no snitch here. There’s no one who’s going to come back and tell me anything. There’s only one snitch, and he’s standing here in front of you. If I have anything to say, I am going to come and say it to you myself.”

That's a pretty crazy thought to think that (possibly) Colangelo had spies amongst the assistant coaches. It sort of instills some hope in me that last years defense suffered due to BC's meddling and that we can once again return to the type of play Casey showd us the team was capable of in his first year.

The word "spies" paints a pretty deceitful picture, and is probably a bit hyperbolic on the part of the writer.

Having said that, I have no doubt that any assistant that got their job from BC and was close to him would be reporting back to him. Whether he was undermining Casey by design, or if it was just a bi-product of that type of situation... the end result is the same and would be pretty damaging to a basketball club.

The word "spies" paints a pretty deceitful picture, and is probably a bit hyperbolic on the part of the writer.

Having said that, I have no doubt that any assistant that got their job from BC and was close to him would be reporting back to him. Whether he was undermining Casey by design, or if it was just a bi-product of that type of situation... the end result is the same and would be pretty damaging to a basketball club.

Ujiri was travelling between cities with a Congolese teammate and a couple of journalists. One journalist put that question to Ujiri’s teammate, “Do you feel pressure?”

“He started laughing and he looked at me. He said, ‘I have an uncle in the Congo . . . ’ — this was during the war — ‘. . . His wife just died, probably of AIDS. He has eight children. The youngest is six months. He has no job. They all live in one room. He has no hope. He doesn’t know how he’s going to feed them tomorrow. That’s pressure.’ ”

And what did the journalist say to that?

Ujiri smiles ruefully: “He was very quiet.”

“You take that in, and then you realize . . . I’ve never once gone into anything in this job and felt pressure. That’s the honest truth.”

Little has changed about the team he inherited. He off-loaded Colangelo’s Rosebud in Andrea Bargnani (‘Did you consider keeping him?’ “No,” says Ujiri).

Here I thought both their jobs (particualrily last year) were to make the playoffs and not "show case" Bargnani for a trade.....

Almost the entire tenure of Colangelo in Toronto was him worrying about himself more than the team.

The overall goal is to build a winner..you have to trade players that aren't fitting and want to get the bet value back for them. If that sacrifices not making the playoffs one year, but making it the next two..

If Your Uncle Jack Helped You Off An Elephant, Would You Help Your Uncle Jack Off An Elephant?

Sometimes, I like to buy a book on CD and listen to it, while reading music.

BC got info from guys he hired and reported to him, and didn't just listen to one guy. Shocking!

You don't find it dysfunctional if the head of an organization hires or recruits people to keep tabs on a principal employee of the organization and report back on the person surreptitiously? You think that's agreeable? If a GM has concerns about his head coach he should address them directly and fix it or fire the guy. If a GM wants input from multiple sources it should be transparent and above board. Stupid political games like the one hinted at in the article are poisonous to any organization. Anyone who has ever worked in that type of environment knows how difficult it is.

In this context, a head coach needs to have confidence and trust in his staff. He needs to be candid with them and vice versa. If he feels like his subordinates are end-running him or going over his head, there are going to be issues. It's no surprise all the assistants were fired if this was the case.

You don't find it dysfunctional if the head of an organization hires or recruits people to keep tabs on a principal employee of the organization and report back on the person surreptitiously? You think that's agreeable? If a GM has concerns about his head coach he should address them directly and fix it or fire the guy. If a GM wants input from multiple sources it should be transparent and above board. Stupid political games like the one hinted at in the article are poisonous to any organization. Anyone who has ever worked in that type of environment knows how difficult it is.

In this context, a head coach needs to have confidence and trust in his staff. He needs to be candid with them and vice versa. If he feels like his subordinates are end-running him or going over his head, there are going to be issues. It's no surprise all the assistants were fired if this was the case.

bold: where is anything stated that says this is what was going on? It seems one word in a MU interview is being extrapolated in some peoples' imaginations to rant about imaginary happenings, but I'd be open to being proven wrong. What's your basis for describing what happened like this?

bold: where is anything stated that says this is what was going on? It seems one word in a MU interview is being extrapolated in some peoples' imaginations to rant about imaginary happenings, but I'd be open to being proven wrong. What's your basis for describing what happened like this?

Casey, has admitted that he wasn't allowed to coach the way he wanted to last year and extrapolate what you want from the word 'snitch'. But, basically Ujiri is saying he will be talking directly to Casey, not through one of the assistant coaches.

Casey, has admitted that he wasn't allowed to coach the way he wanted to last year and extrapolate what you want from the word 'snitch'. But, basically Ujiri is saying he will be talking directly to Casey, not through one of the assistant coaches.

I didn't extrapolate anything from the word, but it seems some are insisting their imagination is reality. As far as what you're saying Casey said, that's an entirely different subject.